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Universal Music revenues climb 5%

Universal Music boss Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of Vivendi and owner of Universal Music told the Financial Times that label revenues climbed 5% in the first half of 2008.

He seemed pretty optimistic, pointing to the flurry of new music services the company is involved with, he said “I really believe we are at the turning point for the music industry and I didn’t say that two years ago.”

Other innovations with potential to increase revenue included possible future deals with companies such as Apple, as well as existing arrangements with the social networking site MySpace, announced last spring, he suggested.

“I think [in] the music business, there is a strong likelihood that we are getting close to the lowest part of the cycle and we are extremely active in developing new business models, new sources of revenues.

“We are working with all the big names in the field of internet, in the field of telecom equipment companies, big media companies and this is a big opportunity.”